Just about any place a flat metal and playfield plastic piece are joined
together ...

This web page is put together to share the information I gathered while
investigating rivets and their installation in pinball machine parts. It's
broken down into the following sections (click on pictures for their full
image):

The removal of the "Kick"
plastic is pretty easy, so there's no problem there. To replace the
plastic though, requires the removal of the stainless lamp support bracket
for the "Striker's Hideout" lamp. The metal bracket is joined to the
plastic via rivets.

Here you can see the progress of
grinding off the back of the rivet and back up
washer.

Quite a bit of heat can be generated by
grinding the rivet. This can be a problem if the rivet top is
against plastic and not metal as is the case here. If more than one
rivet is being replaced, alternate moving from one rivet to another until
the job is done. The point is to take your time and go slow, if
you're in a hurry use a wet cloth to help cool down the rivet.

Here you can see the
Striker's Hide Out lamp support has been removed from the original
plastic. Also in the picture is the new "Kick" playfield plastic
that has yet to have the lamp supported joined to it.

After searching local and
distant fastener companies, I learned the rivet type used in pinball
machines is called a semi-tubular rivet. It's semi-tubular because
the top half is solid and the bottom have is like a tube. The tube
part is clinched, or flared, to join and hold the work pieces
together. I purchased two lengths (6/32" and 7/32") of the 1/8"
diameter (distance "A") rivets. If I had to place another order, I'd
also pick up the 5/32" length rivets to cover more possibilities and
they're cheap too!

I ended up purchasing the rivets, back up washers and rivet
clinching/setting tool from Hanson Rivet Company. Their web site is
just a single information page, so there's not much information.
Instead, request a catalog (60+ pages) for all the details on the numerous
rivet varieties and related tools.

Hanson also carries nickel-plated brass semi-tubular rivets.
You can see evidence of the brass in the original rivet here
- notice the yellow tinge that's under the finish. The brass
rivet is easier to clinch vs. steel and was originally used on parts
where playfield plastics were joined to other parts. The nickel
finish isn't as shiny as the clear zinc finish, so take this into
consideration when ordering. The part numbers for the
nickel-plated brass semi-tubular rivets is MS20450-C8-BxN, where 'x'
represents the length of the rivet in 32nds of an inch.

The tools used to clinch/set
semi-tubular rivets is a piece of hardened steel that's like a
punch. They come in different sizes based on the rivet diameter
size. This one is for 1/8" diameter rivets.

Another tool is used to securely hold the rivet head in place.
You can see the tool's concave portion the receives the rivet
head.

This tool was slightly modified. A metal file was used
to shave off the end to the reduce the depth that holds the rivet
head. This was done so that the tool only presses against the rivet
and not the materials being joined.

Depending on your setup, Hanson
Rivet Company also sells an optional "squeezer die" that has a similar
function. Information on the squeezer die is found on the catalog
page for Hand Rivet Clinchers.

The rivet head tool was purchased through Tandy
Leather. The cost was $1.49 plus shipping.

Hanson Rivet Co. wanted
around $225 for a hand tool to clinch the rivets. This was way out
of my budget, so my friend and I put our heads together to build rivet
press out of some scrap metal. Fortunately for me, my friend is an
avid welder so actually building the press was something I didn't have to
do.

The press is built out of angle iron, 3/4" all thread, nuts, and
bolts. The all thread was drilled out to receive each rivet tool
that holds and clinches the rivet. A nut is welded at the end of
each all thread piece. A bolt goes through the end nut and is used
to tighten and push the rivet tool. This clinches and sets the rivet
tubular portion. You can easily control how much pressure is used to
clinch the rivet based on how much the end bolt is tightened.

Besides building a press from scratch, another idea is to use a drill
press. The clinch tool could be tightened in the chuck and then a
downward force could be applied.

After my custom press was built, I later saw on a rec.games.pinball a C
clamp like tool to clinch the rivets selling for about $45. I don't
know if it includes the clinching part to set the rivet.

There are a number of ways to clinch semi-tubular rivets whether it be
a custom press, drill press or some other tool. I would caution
against using hammer because a slight slip could spell disaster for a new
playfield plastic. The force to strike the rivet clinching tool also
can't be accurately controlled.

I'm real happy on how my custom rivet press turned out. I have to
thank my friend again for building it. Half the fun of this project
was designing and building something from scratch and seeing it all
successfully work.

Here's a close up of one end of a drilled out all thread piece that
receives a rivet tool. The all thread piece is adjustable by the
large nut welded between the two angle iron pieces. A back up nut is
also used to keep the all thread piece in place after its final
adjustment.

Here's the press ready to go with both rivet tools loaded. The
press is adjustable by the all thread pieces moving back and forth.
Also adjustable are the rivet tools based on the end bolts.

The press is clamped down with Quick Grips to keep it steady.
Only a single 1/2" wrench is used to tighten the end bolt going into the
rivet clinching tool. The other tool that backs up the rivet head
remains stationary.

Be sure to use the correct rivet
length
for the job. If the rivet is too short it won't have enough
material to clinch and securely hold the playfield pieces. If it's
too long the rivet will clinch nicely, but the playfield pieces won't
be tightly joined together.

Here's a section out of Hanson's
catalog on how to determine the correct rivet length. It's a
combination of the total thickness of all materials plus a clinch
allowance factor. A 1/8" diameter rivet has a clinch allowance of
.074 (just over a 1/16").

This picture illustrates the correct rivet length. The overall
rivet length extends about 1/16" past the back up
washer.

Here the rivet tools are
lined up in the press with the playfield pieces and new rivet. To
clinch/set the rivet, all that's needed is the gentle tightening of the
outside bolt to push the rivet
clinching tool.

Here's how the new rivets
turned out after using the press to clinch them. The back up washers
provide support for holding together the playfield plastic and stainless
steel lamp support. The application of back up washers is important
where the rivet is clinched against plastic, otherwise it usually isn't
needed. Also note there is minimal splitting of the clinched rivet's
tubular portion due to using the correct length.

Here's the new assembled
playfield plastic installed back in the pinball machine. A plastic
washer was also installed in between the plastic and playfield post to
help protect the plastic from breaking. Plastic washers can be
bought at http://www.thekingofpayne.com/.